In a list of his favorite songs released in 2022, former US President Barack Obama ranked Rema – Calm Down, Ayra Starr – Rush, and Burna Boy – Last Last as his top three selections from Africa.
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Former US President Barack Obama has released a playlist of his favourite songs of 2022, featuring Nigeria’s Ayra Starr, Rema, and Burna Boy, among other Nigerian artists. The playlist includes some of the year’s biggest releases in genres ranging from Afrobeats, hip hop to rap and more.
- Ayra Starr – Rush, Rema – Calm Down, and Burna Boy – Last Last are among the songs Barack Obama chose for his favorite songs of 2022 playlist. The president said he always enjoyed sharing his end-of-year music playlist with his audience. According to Obama, sharing his end-of-year music playlist is always a pleasure.
- This list has a very diverse selection of songs from all over the globe. Nigerian Rema was no surprise to find a place in Barack Obama’s 2022 Favorite Songs as his song “calm down” was a big hit that deserved this position.
- Ayra Starr’s latest song ‘Rush’ was also included in Barack Obama’s 2022 Favorite Songs. The single, “Rush,” which follows the visuals for “Beggie Beggie” with Nigerian singer, CKay, will likely benefit from Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2022 feature.
- The final song Barack Obama picked for his African roaster is ‘Last Last’ by Burna Boy. The song appeared on Burna Boy’s sixth studio album, Love, Damini, released through Atlantic Records on 13 May 2022.
Among the 25 songs Barack Obama selected for his favorite songs of 2022, you will find Ayra Starr’s Rush, Rema’s Calm Down, and Burna Boy’s Last Last. Obama said that he has always enjoyed sharing his end-of-year music playlist with everyone.
“I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with all of you — and this year we heard a lot of great songs,” Former President Obama said in a tweet Saturday, December 24, 2022.
There are numerous genres of music represented in Obama’s 2022 playlist, including Afrobeats (Burna Boy’s “Last Last,” Arya Starr’s “Rush”) and reggae (Koffee’s “Pull Up”), indie pop (Maggie Rogers’ “That’s Where I Am”), indie folk (Ethel Cain’s “American Teenager”), hip-hop (Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Pt. 5,” “Belize” with Danger Mouse, Black Thought and MF DOOM), and R&B (Sudan Archives’ “Home Maker”).
In his 2022 playlist, Barack Obama has chosen music that is innovative, diverse, and unpredictable. The inclusion of Nigerian Rema’s ‘calm down’ song on his list is no surprise as it was a big banger and deserved to be included.
This song is from the debut studio album of Nigerian singer Rema, Rave & Roses (2022). It was released as the album’s second single on 11 February 2022 by Jonzing World and Mavin. It reached number one on the Belgian Ultratop 50, the Dutch Top 40 and the Dutch Single Top 100 charts.
On 25 August 2022, a remix of the song featuring American singer Selena Gomez was released, reaching number one on the Billboard US Afrobeat Songs chart and placing fifth on the Global 200 chart.
Additionally, Barack Obama included ‘Rush’ on his Favorite Songs of 2022 list. ‘Rush’ is Ayra Starr’s debut single of the year, and will likely gain global exposure after being included in Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2022 following the visuals for the song “Beggie Beggie” featuring Nigerian singer, CKay.
The final song on Barack Obama’s African roaster for Favorite Songs of 2022 is ‘Last Last’ by Burna Boy. ‘Last Last’ is the first single released from Burna Boy’s sixth studio album, Love, Damini, which was released through Atlantic Records on 13 May 2022.
The song was written by Burna Boy with co-writers Off & Out (brothers Mikael and Samuel Haataja), Chopstix, MdS, and Ruuben. The song was performed by Burna Boy at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards two days after it was released.
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This year, Burna Boy’s ‘Last Last’ has done some amazing things including surpassing one hundred million views on YouTube, being the most streamed song on Spotify in Uganda, and also inspiring Burna Boy to create his cannabis brand “Brkfst”.
As with Ethel Cain’s “American Teenager,” he chose an artist whose debut album, “Preacher’s Daughter,” gained critical attention. There are heavy topics in it, such as religion and domestic violence.
Obama’s endorsement could boost Cain’s campaign significantly since she didn’t make enough of an impression to show up in many critics’ polls.
Then, the song “Shirt” by SZA became a bestseller when it was released in mid-December despite having been released since October itself.
Additionally, earlier in July, Obama shared his annual summer playlist, which included songs by Beyonce, Harry Styles, Rosalia and others.
The following is Barack Obama’s 2022 favorite music playlist
- Kendrick Lamar: “The Heart Part 5”
- Bad Bunny: “Tití Me Preguntó”
- Ari Lennox: “POF”
- Zach Bryan: “Something in the Orange”
- Burna Boy: “Last Last”
- Ethel Cain: “American Teenager”
- Tank and the Bangas: “Communion in My Cup”
- Koffee: “Pull Up”
- Rosalía: “Saoko”
- Ayra Starr: “Rush”
- Beyoncé: “Break My Soul”
- SiR: “Life Is Good” [ft. Scribz Riley]
- Maggie Rogers: “That’s Where I Am”
- Leyla McCalla: “Dodinin.”
- Steve Lacy: “Sunshine” [ft. Foushé]
- Rema: “Calm down.”
- Plains: “Problem With It”
- Xavier Omär: “Feelings 4 You”
- Danger Mouse and Black Thought: “Belize” [ft. MF DOOM]
- 20) Omar Apollo: “Tamagotchi”
- Sudan Archives: “Home Maker”
- NxWorries: “Where I Go” [ft. H.E.R.]
- SZA: “Shirt”
- Lizzo: “About Damn Time”
- Adam Blackstone: “‘Round Midnight” [ft. Jazmine Sullivan]
I always enjoy sharing my end of year music playlist with all of you — and this year we heard a lot of great songs. Here are some of my favorites.
Are there any songs or artists I should check out? pic.twitter.com/qkwm4UOzMD
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 23, 2022
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